Personalities are as varied as color and as numerous as the stars. I’ve always known this to be true, and yesterday I came across two types of personality that I’ve had a tendency to ignore.
Personality #1: The person who wants, needs, and enjoys talking about her day after she comes home from work. She may want to vent about something that upset her, or talk about a funny occurrence; either way it plays a vital role in her communication expectation.
Personality #2: The person who does not like talking about work. He would rather come home, watch some sports and have a beer. Discussion most often occurs during a commercial break and usually relates to domestic issues.
This new discovery came about quite innocently. I was talking to my mother and the conversation steered its way to the kind of relationship she and my father have. The two are retired now, so work isn’t something they spend eight hours doing each day. Instead, they get out and experience individual, social activities. These separate lives away from home still engender a need (or lack thereof) to talk about what happened.
My mother likes to talk about her day after she returns home. My father, on the other hand, is a man of few words. This dichotomy between the couple lends itself to a unique balance; one that is far more complex than even I understand. Suffice it to say, my parents have developed a way of satisfying each other’s need for communication.
This brings me back to yesterday as I was talking to a friend. Our time together reminded me of this conversation with my mother.
He and I were sitting in a coffee shop. The smell of roasted coffee coated the air as an espresso grinder made a loud roar. I recounted my workday and while I was doing so this friend yawned. He hadn’t said one word the entire conversation. When I was done, he stood up and excused himself to use the restroom. He was gone for a long time and when he returned nothing more was said until the good-bye.
It isn’t that I’ve never recognized Personality #1 and Personality #2 before. I have, but yesterday I came to a simple conclusion about them. There are personalities that don’t want to listen about my workday. I should respect that.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
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